Tancredo ends bid for presidency and endorses Mitt Romney...

December 21, 2007

Tancredo ends bid for presidency and endorses Mitt Romney DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Rep. Tom Tancredo, who built his longshot presidential campaign on opposition to illegal immigration, dropped out Thursday and endorsed Republican rival Mitt Romney as the best man to carry on the fight. Tancredo, a five-term congressman from Colorado, has consistently polled at the bottom of the nine-person Republican field. He said he decided to drop out in part because of concern that staying in could split the vote for other candidates who have taken a hard line on immigration, helping those who would take a less restrictive approach. He said Romney has a proven record of opposing illegal immigration while governor of Massachusetts, ending driver's licenses and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Cordless drills, holiday candles recalled for fire hazards (AP) -- The following recalls have been announced: -About 346,000 DeWalt cordless drills, made in Mexico by DeWalt Industrial Tool Company, because the trigger switch of the cordless drill can overheat, posing a fire hazard. The company has received 11 reports of trigger switches overheating. No injuries or property damage have been reported. The drills were sold at wholesale distributors and retailers from about June 2006 through this month. Details: by phone at (888) 742-9168; by Web at www.DeWalt.com or www.cpsc.gov. -About 13,000 Christmas candle sets, distributed by Specialty Merchandise Corp. and made in China, because the snowman candle could tip over and the exterior coating on both candles can ignite, posing a fire hazard. No injuries or incidents have been reported. The recalled set includes a Snowman and a Christmas tree candle. The sets were sold through SMC's catalog from October 2003 through September this year. Details: by phone at (888) 839-8757: by Web at www.smcorp.com/recall or www.cpsc.gov. Fight brewing over states' ability to set vehicle emission rules WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration's rejection of state efforts to tighten rules on greenhouse gas emissions touched off a flurry of counterattacks Thursday. Democrats in Congress began an investigation. Governors led by California's Arnold Schwarzenegger said they would sue. Environmental groups demanded to see the government's rationale for its decision. Those were the opening moves in what is shaping up to be a fierce legal and political battle. At issue is the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to block California and at least 16 other states from regulating greenhouse gases that come from new cars and trucks. Environmental lawyers and congressional aides were focusing on whether the EPA's administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, denied California's request without relying on the legal and technical documentation they said should accompany such a decision. Johnson's decision overruled a consensus among EPA's legal and technical staff that denying the waiver was unlikely to stand up in court, according to government officials familiar with the decision. Schwarzenegger said the state would file an appeal within three weeks. The tailpipe standards California adopted in 2004 would have forced automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and light trucks by 2016. Under the law, the state needed a waiver to put in place the rules, and other states could then adopt them, too. Twelve other states -- Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- have adopted the standards. The governors of Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Utah have said they also plan to adopt them. The rules were also under consideration in Iowa.